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| Please click here for this 3:14 video |
Scheduling is finally here!! - Our data has been clear at West for the past several years in that 90% of West students state they will go on to a two or four-year college for their post-high school education, yet, only 50% of students will make it past year one and that is why we push as a school to prepare our students better. A big part of preparing students to meet the challenges of the next level is course selection. With course scheduling coming up this week it is time to think about stretching your academic resume. A stretch class is rigorous, possibly AP or Honors, a class that a college admissions counselor would find impressive, and/or a class that will help you reach your fullest potential as a student. You could also choose to take an additional class instead of a study hall. This is a goal class for you. Think about what content area you excel in and stretch in that area or try something new and challenging!! Now is the time to STRETCH it out!!
Family Connect Conferences Sign Up is here!! - We will be having one night of Family Connect (formerly known as Parent/Teacher) conferences at West High School on Wednesday, February 19th. Conferences will start at 4:00 P.M. and go until 7:30 P.M. We will be continuing on with our recent format for these conferences by having them as an appointment only with a focus on family connection. The format of the connection time will be 7-minute conferences with teachers leading the conference by asking these two questions:
1. What successes and challenges has your student shared with you about their performance in this class?
2. What do I need to know about your student academically and/or personally in order for your student to have a successful learning experience in my class?
These conferences are in the place of traditional student/teacher conferences where grades and work completion were predominately discussed. Grades and work completion are just as important as they have always been, but technology allows families to track these things and communicate more efficiently with teachers. So, I have purposely changed the format so that connections can continue to be made to support student success. Why?... see the snippet below of this March, 12th 2019 Ed Week article on why relationships matter as in captures and reaffirms my thought process.
"People sometimes mistake a kind of casual familiarity and friendliness for the promotion of really deep relationships that are about a child's potential, their interests, their strengths, and weaknesses," said Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Southern California who studies the effects of emotions and mindsets on learning.
"A lot of teachers ... have really strong abilities to engage socially with the students, but then it's not enough," she said. "You have to go much deeper than that and actually start to engage with students around their curiosity, their interests, their habits of mind through understanding and approaching material to really be an effective teacher."
A reminder to all parents that the sign-up document has the teacher's room number and the questions they will be asking so please bookmark the link so you can access where teachers will be located. I will be sending out a map of our school via email for all families and will have copies available the night of "Family Connect." Finally, do not schedule back to back conferences as there is no travel time built into the schedule, be sure to give yourself time to travel our building.
Waukesha West Dance Team - Congratulations to the West Dance team for taking 6th place at the WACPC State Dance
Championship on Saturday, February 1st! What a season and thank you for all of your dedication!
West End Players - See the flyer below and get your plans set to come and enjoy the work of our talented students!!
National Signing Day - Recently, 16 students declared they will be representing Waukesha West as an athlete at the collegiate level! Congratulations to all the signees and their families!
Ally Alderden (softball) - Marian University
Brooks Blount (football) - College of DuPage
Logan Clementi (rowing) - University of Wisconsin-Madison
Lauren Dabey (volleyball) - Bryant & Stratton College
Ben Hetzel (soccer) - Carroll University
Claire Jeffers (lacrosse) - St. Ambrose University
Kaya Kuokkanen (cross country/track and field) - Michigan State University
Erich Legut (soccer) - St. Louis University
Avery Owusu-Asiedu (baseball) - Southern Illinois Edwardsville
Kalyn Otzelberger (track and field) - Ripon College
Erin Phelan (cross country/track and field) - Wartburg College
Tyler Sieger (football) - UW-Oshkosh
Matthew Spellman (volleyball) - University of Southern California
Chloe Waldhart (lacrosse) - Marian University
Thomas Ward (baseball) - Carroll University
Looking for work....become an AVID tutor! - The School District of Waukesha and West High School are continuing to look for AVID tutors. We are looking for people who want part-time work and are seeking to make a difference with our students. We have a consistent need district-wide to fill tutoring positions as AVID is continuing to bring success and is spreading throughout our district. Please consider joining our successes with AVID or pass this information along to someone you think would be a great fit. The flyer and information for the position are below:
Archived Announcements (Link) Please access this link to find all of the information in our daily announcements from previous weeks.
Preview of this week: Please check the calendars here: West Main Page Calendar (Link)
